


confession

by ndnickerson



Category: Nancy Drew - Carolyn Keene
Genre: Angst, Drunken Confessions, F/M, Falling In Love, Friendship/Love, Love Confessions, Male-Female Friendship, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Social Media
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-22
Updated: 2015-05-22
Packaged: 2018-03-31 15:46:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3983776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ndnickerson/pseuds/ndnickerson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nancy's more than a little hurt by a late-night social media post someone makes that mocks her friendship with Ned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	confession

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this prompt from otpprompts on tumblr:  
> Person A wakes up late at night to the sound of someone knocking at their door. They go investigate to find an upset/drunk Person B at their doorstep, pleading to let them inside. Being a close friend, A lets them in, and B reveals that they’re having trouble dealing with inner demons, specifically a strong, intimate lust for A. They’re terribly ashamed and shy about their confession. How A reacts to this is up to you. (Bonus: C is staying at A’s house, and can hear the entire conversation.)

"Nan. Nan, please."

Hannah was standing at the door, her satin-trimmed powder-blue robe wrapped tight around her. She shook her head when Nancy approached. Nancy's arms were wrapped over her belly, and she was shivering a little in her tank top; her lashes were still matted and sharp, and her eyes were still puffy, but she didn't care. Her father wasn't home to see, and Hannah already knew. Nancy sniffled, then shrugged a little.

"I think he's drunk," Hannah whispered.

"I'll be okay," Nancy whispered in reply, her voice weary. Hannah reluctantly stepped back, and Nancy took a deep resigned breath before she opened the front door.

Ned stumbled into the entryway a few steps; he reached out to grab the doorframe, and that alone kept him from falling to the floor. Behind him, in the darkness, the rain was coming down in sheets. He was drenched too. His coat gleamed, and even the hem of his shorts was darker. His dark hair was almost black when wet. And he did smell like he had used rum for mouthwash.

"Baby—"

"Who did it?" she demanded, and her throat was suddenly tight again, and she was horrified when her voice started to crack. "That was a—a terrible joke—"

Ned swallowed hard. His dark eyes were miserable, and Nancy shivered when the wind gusted a patter of raindrops toward them. Hannah moved behind Ned to shut the door, and the three of them were alone in the foyer, in the dark house. Nancy had gone to bed early, ignoring a follow-up call from Bess and another call from George, and a couple from Ned. Her phone had been on silent. She just hadn't wanted to think anymore.

It was perverse and stupid and in awful taste. He was her friend, her best friend, and he didn't feel that way about her.

And she didn't know why it had gotten to her the way it had, why it had left her feeling sick and fighting tears until she couldn't anymore. Romance, all that happily-ever-after bullshit? That was for fools. They had laughed about it together, talking about how people their age just didn't seem to be cut out for that kind of thing. And he had told her more than a few times that he would rather be her best friend for the rest of their lives than some guy she tired of after only a few weeks, who she saw as some casual fling. And she had been relieved.

That stupid semi-public post? That stupid post from yesterday had been someone pretending to be him. She hadn't even seen it until just after lunch, just hours ago, when she had come home from her latest case, and her stomach had been upset all afternoon. It had been someone who thought it was funny to mock their relationship, to make it—something less than it was. To make him sound like some lovestruck fool instead of her best friend.

"So you're upset."

"Of course I'm upset!" Nancy said, and replied to Hannah's excusing herself with a distracted wave. It was only Ned. It would be all right. Somehow she would find the other side of this and they would laugh about it. Somehow. "You're my best friend and some—some asshole decided it would be fun to mock us. To mock you."

"It's just a terrible joke."

"What else could it be?" Nancy sniffled, then looked up at him. "You're upset too, right?"

He nodded. "I'm upset," he said. "I..."

"Did you find out who did it?"

_I think about you all the time, Nancy, and I wish we could be together all the time, but it's more than that._

"I know who did it."

_I want to know what it would be like to kiss you. To sleep with you in my arms._

"Who?" She looked up at him, her eyes swimming again.

_To show you how I feel about you, in every possible way. To finally tell you how drop-dead fucking sexy you are, and how I fantasize about you all the time._

Ned ran his fingers through his hair and looked down. He had to be embarrassed too. Some sick asshole at his frat had taken a joke too far.

_In my dreams you taste sweet, with those long gorgeous legs wrapped around my shoulders. Please let me find out if it's true._

"I mean, this guy's clearly a pervert—"

"Is that really what you think?"

_I love you, Nan._

She nodded. "At least he took it down, or you did... It's just..."

She saw Ned's hand clench into a fist at his side. "I was pretty drunk last night," he told her. "I guess it would have been easy for someone to sneak up to my room and get on my computer."

She nodded, hugging herself tight again. "So maybe I can head up to Emerson tomorrow," she said. "Talk to some guys..."

He shook his head. "That's..." He swallowed hard, again. "That's not what happened."

"What's not what happened?"

He looked down again. She could hear him breathing, faintly, taking a deep breath. Then he brought his chin back up and squared his shoulders a little. His handsome lips pressed into a firm line. "It really was me, Nan," he murmured.

She blinked. Then she began to slowly shake her head. "I—I didn't hear you right," she whispered. She could feel her cheeks growing warm.

"I was drunk," he said, and then he shook his head too. "Otherwise I wouldn't have told you. I would never have told you. And—and it was a mistake, and I—I just want us to forget about it, okay?"

"It was you?" Her mind was spinning. She couldn't _think_. It just—He wasn't like that, he wasn't. She had treated him like Bess and George, one of her best friends, and she had trusted him, she had been sure that he would never take advantage of her—and she had been glad.

Hadn't she? Or had she loved it a little, when he saw her less than fully dressed and glanced away, when he gave her a daisy on her birthday and told her that she could just put it with the rest of her bouquets, and his voice had only been a little wistful. She had been so sure of him that she had been blinded to how he felt. Blindsided.

Ned sighed and took a step back. "I'm—I'm so sorry. So—" His voice dropped. " _Fucking_ sorry. Please—please don't let this ruin anything. Please."

He was begging her.

_Ned_ had been the one fantasizing about her. It hadn't been some jerk from his frat creeping on her or playing a sick joke on them.

"But—we both said—you—" She couldn't seem to finish a thought, or even an entire sentence. "What—what's true?"

He shrugged and blew out a long breath. "Whatever you want to be true," he murmured. Then he gave her a small, humorless smile. "So you really thought it couldn't have been me. That..." He shook his head. "I guess that's your answer, huh."

He reached for the doorknob. Nancy took a half-step forward, her throat aching. "You didn't say anything," she whispered.

"Because I knew this would—would kick me in the head," he mumbled. He shook his head again. "I wish to God I'd passed out before I posted that. _Shit._ "

She reached for him, touching his hand. She still felt almost numb and tongue-tied with shock, but she hated seeing him so upset. "Shh," she murmured.

"Oh my God. Is your Dad here?"

She shook her head. "Just... Just stop beating yourself up. I can't believe you drove all this way. I'm just..."

"I'll just crash at my parents' tonight. Pretend this didn't happen. Pretend none of this happened."

She looked into his miserable gaze. "What if I don't?" she replied. "I just... I didn't think you would lie to me about that. I thought it was just some pervert..."

"I guess it was."

She reached up and cupped his cheek, touching her thumb to his lips. "Some stranger," she corrected herself. "So—you fantasize about me?"

He flushed and looked down, and he looked so miserable that she almost chuckled. "I wish the ground would open up," he whispered.

She stroked his cheek. "I've always thought you were totally out of my league, Nickerson," she admitted.

His head jerked up, and he searched her eyes. "Never," he said, his voice almost hoarse. " _You_ are."

She smiled. "Here. Why don't you sit down. I can make some coffee."

His eyebrows rose a little. "Um... yeah. But Mike's in the car. I—couldn't exactly drive myself," he explained.

She nodded. "He really is a good friend, huh. Well, the weather's bad. Go ahead and invite him inside too. He can have the guest room."

Ned paused for a moment before answering. "You only have one guest room, and I'd hate to sleep in your dad's room..."

"Guess I'll have to, then," she said, and then she smiled. "Or, if you decided to be really good, maybe you could sleep on the floor in my room. And we could talk."

"Alone."

"Alone." She nodded. "But only if you promise to be good."

"If you insist," he murmured, and his voice was low and almost husky.

_I love you._

"Go get him, before I change my mind."

Ned chuckled, then gave her hand a little squeeze. "Please don't," he murmured, searching her eyes. "We can stay up until I'm really sober and I'm begging you to forget all this. Just like old times, sleepovers with all four of us, just... just us two. Sneaking downstairs to grab a cookie or two after midnight."

She took a slow breath. "I don't know if I can forget about it," she murmured. "I... I don't know if I want to."

After a beat, his lips curved up in a small smile. "Then don't," he murmured.

And then, with a deft twist of his wrist, the door was open and he was heading out into the rain, toward Mike's car, and she stood in the doorway with her arms wrapped around her waist.

_I love you._

"Maybe," she whispered, but she couldn't stop herself from smiling.

 


End file.
